Local Content and Services Report (FY16)
1. Describe your overall goals and approach to address identified community issues, needs, and
interests through your station’s vital local services, such as multiplatform long and short-form
content, digital and in-person engagement, education services, community information,
partnership support, and other activities, and audiences you reached or new audiences you
engaged.
KUOW's promise to connect with and reflect local interests, to build a more diverse audience, and to
promote civil discourse can't happen unless we're on the ground interacting with our communities.
The past year took us to new parts of the Puget Sound region, giving us the chance to hear directly
from our listeners about what matters most. Through events, community engagement and live
remotes, we got the chance to see new perspectives and bring clarity to a range of ideas. From
bringing the StoryCorps mobile booth to one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the country, to
creating "speed dating" style events for misunderstood cultures, to Moth-style storytelling parties
for the South Asian community, one of KUOW's key initiatives is creating more "Outside/In" content.
2. Describe key initiatives and the variety of partners with whom you collaborated, including other
public media outlets, community nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, the
business community, teachers and parents, etc. This will illustrate the many ways you’re
connected across the community and engaged with other important organizations in the area.
Local Wonder
Local Wonder is an experiment in a different method of collaborative storytelling. Using social media
and on air promos, KUOW’s Local Wonder team asks the community “What do you wonder about
Seattle, the Puget Sound region or its people?” Reporters investigate the story and present it on air
and online. Local Wonder is guided by listeners and their curiosity about Seattle, our region, and the
people who live here.
Topics covered in fiscal year 2016 included “What will happen when Mount Rainier erupts?” (May
2016); “Is there really a giant octopus under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge” (April 2016); “Why are
there so many Craftsman-style homes here in Seattle?” (March 2016); “When did Northwesterners
stop speaking Chinook jargon?” (February 2016); and “Why is there so much prostitution on Aurora
Avenue in Seattle?” (December 2015)
RadioActive Youth Media
During fiscal year 2016 RadioActive, KUOW’s youth media program, held workshops at the Columbia
and Southwest branches of the Seattle Public Library, and numerous middle and high schools
throughout the region. They also collaborated with multiple community organizations including the
World Affairs Council, Muslim Association of Puget Sound, and Southwest Youth & Family Services.
Excerpted from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio Station Activity Survey (SAS) submitted to CPB 2/15/17
StoryCorps
KUOW collaborated with StoryCorps, Seattle Public Library and Seattle Housing Authority in a
storytelling partnership with the goal of telling the stories of one of the most diverse zip codes in the
country.
Storywallahs
Storywallahs is a semi-annual storytelling event featuring the South Asian community presented in
partnership with Tasveer and Pratidhwani (both non-profit, community-based organizations in the
Seattle area committed to promoting and showcasing films, stories, and performances that highlight
South Asian heritage, culture and issues).
The Jungle
In partnership with Seattle Public Library and Real Change Homeless Newspaper, KUOW built on
their reporting from the ‘Jungle’ homeless encampment in Seattle with an event aimed at hearing
the actual voices of homeless citizens of The Jungle.
Ask A Muslim
In collaboration with the Runta Somali Newspaper, KUOW hosted an “Ask A Muslim” event with the
goal of creating empathy for a misunderstood culture in a politically polarizing time.
Think & Drink
In partnership with Humanities Washington, KUOW presented a series of evening conversations
titled ‘Think and Drink’ with the theme being ‘Race, Place, and Culture’.
Military and Veteran Affairs Reporting Collaborations
KUOW reporter Patricia Murphy was part of the collaborative “Back to Base” project focusing on
military and veterans affairs. The project was a partnership between public radio
stations KUOW, WUNC, KPCC, and was funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Diverse Perspectives grant.
3. What impact did your key initiatives and partnerships have in your community? Describe any
known measurable impact, such as increased awareness, learning or understanding about
particular issues. Describe indicators of success, such as connecting people to needed resources or
strengthening conversational ties across diverse neighborhoods. Did a partner see an increase in
requests for related resources? Please include direct feedback from a partner(s) or from a
person(s) served.
In partnership with KUOW, Seattle Public Library and the Seattle Housing Authority, StoryCorps
brought their mobile story booth to Seattle, spending 6 weeks located in New Holly, one of the most
diverse neighborhoods in the country. People from all over the city took the opportunity to visit with
a friend or family member and record a conversation. This location resulted in a hugely diverse
wealth of stories that far surpassed StoryCorps and KUOW's goal of diversity.
Excerpted from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio Station Activity Survey (SAS) submitted to CPB 2/15/17
Storywallahs (a “Hinglish” word for “storytellers”) has been a great way to bring the South Asian
community, one of Seattle’s fastest growing minority groups, together to tell stories. This year's
Storywallahs was First Day, where people told the story of their first day as a US citizen.
Ask A Muslim: a simple way to build empathy and understanding through listening to each other.
This is an ongoing series and partnership with Runta News, a local Somali newspaper, to open up
new ways of thinking about other cultures. We paired Muslim community members with nonMuslims, encouraging them to do something very simple: talk, listen and be heard. Everyone who
attended got a chance to learn more about the diverse range of personalities and opinions within
our Muslim communities. KUOW has been awarded an Amazon Catalyst Grant to continue this
work, and we're adding more "misunderstood" audiences with ones like Ask An Immigrant, Ask A
Transgender and others. We will be creating a toolkit for our listeners to create their own events.
We partnered with the Seattle Public Library and Real Change Homeless Newspaper, on an event
called The Jungle. The Jungle is a homeless encampment that was being shut down. The event
featured a panel comprised of actual homeless people talking about their stories, instead of the
usual politicians and talking heads.
4. Please describe any efforts (e.g. programming, production, engagement activities) you have made
to investigate and/or meet the needs of minority and other diverse audiences (including, but not
limited to, new immigrants, people for whom English is a second language and illiterate adults)
during Fiscal Year 2015, and any plans you have made to meet the needs of these audiences
during Fiscal Year 2016. If you regularly broadcast in a language other than English, please note
the language broadcast.
RadioActive continues to lean in to youth outreach, expanding into neighborhoods that are
underserved by traditional media and working even harder to get more diverse voices onto the
airwaves.
Storywallahs continues to grow and develop with more events held in 2016. This is now a regular
semiannual event.
Ask A Muslim, our ongoing series of "speed dating" style events with the Muslim community will
continue to expand into Ask An Immigrant.
5. Assess the impact that your CPB funding had on your ability to serve your community. What were
you able to do with your grant that you wouldn't be able to do if you didn't receive it?
CPB funding continues to help us move forward with many community engagement projects. Our
new Community Engagement Producer hit the ground running with our Ask A Muslim program
which builds outreach into a traditionally misunderstood part of our community. Many attendees
agree that they want more, and we're able to expand this program with even more Ask A...
workshops with other underrepresented groups around the region. We have significantly increased
collaborations between the Programming and Community Engagement departments.
Excerpted from KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio Station Activity Survey (SAS) submitted to CPB 2/15/17